Liquid cooling apparatus



Dec. 4, 195] c. P. FREER LIQUID COOLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 24, 1948INVENTOR. CLYDE R FREER Patented Dec. 4, 1951 Clyde P;- Freerggwarren,Ohio, assignor: tomHalse'y' W Taylor (30., Warren, Ohio-,i acorporatiomof Ohio' Application-August 24, 194lsrial Nb;45,958

(Cl. (R -141),

1 Claim; 1.-

My' invention. relates. to liquid; cooling? appa-- ratus, moreparticularly to water cooling appa ratus'. such as drinking fountains,andthe' prin-' cipal object of my invention is to provide new andimproved apparatus. of such character In liquid cooling. apparatus,every effort is made to obtain maxim'umefliciency, so that input energyrequired to coola certain amountof liquid;

is held tc'a minimum.- When input energy is reduced, not only areoperating costs correspondingly reduced, but by reason ofincreasedeiiiciency, maintenance costs are also reduced.

Generally, my invention makes use of cooling energy which is normallywasted in the ordinary liquid cooling apparatus. More specifically, myinvention utilizes the cooling.v effect. of liquid passing through theexhaust outletor drain to pre-cool incoming liquid flowing to. theapparatus.

In the drawing accompanying this specification, and formingpar-tof thisapplication, there is shown, for purposesofillustration, an emb'odiZ-ment which my invention may assume, and in this drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a water cooler of the drinkingfountain type embodying my invention, with parts broken away and partsshown in section to better illustrate the invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the apparatusshown in Figure l, with a portion broken away to illustrate an interiorconstruction, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding generally to theline 3--3 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, the embodiment of the invention hereindisclosed is shown in use,

with a water cooler of the drinking fountain type, although it will beappreciated that my invention is not limited to the particular usedisclosed.

The water cooler herein illustrated comprises a casing 50 enclosing atits lower portion an apparatus H such as the compressor-condenser unitof a usual refrigerator. Since the apparatus ll may be of any well knowntype, detailed description thereof is believed unnecessary.

A water storage tank 12 is housed within the upper portion of the casingI0, this tank being adapted to contain a suitable supply of cooled waterto meet demand requirements. A refrigerant coil 13 encircles the tankl2, and is in good thermal transfer relationship therewith, preferablyby tinning the coil l3 to the exterior surface of the tank [2.

Tme'inlet of the coil I32 is at the lower: endz'o'f the tank l2, and isconnected by: a conduit I142 to' tliel apparatus" lzl and: the outlet ofthe coil l3 i's at the upper end of the tank" I2 andrrefrige er'a'nt;is'returned 'to the apparatus: H= by means".- of' as co'nduit 1.5.

Cooled' w'ater from the tank 12 isfdrawn' offi fromlthebottom-cf-fthertank l2 byfmeans of a? c'oncluitlfirwhich leads-:to avalve" "1. Thefvalve:

it ill? mayxb'ei' of! any) suitable: construction; and ass here'sl'io'wnis manually controlled by a rotatable: handz piece:- IB.. Water" from.the valve." l li is delivered". to? a bubbler I9.= bymeans; of a conduit 2.0.. 1

In usualrtypcs" ofwatencoolers;.the' uppeir po1t-- ticnfisrprovidedwith." a: depressed: basini-fornnng portiona z'l and; to? the Ilowermost part: of: this. basinist'cbnnefitedrthe drain' outlet 22iAsfhereein shown; theoutleti-TZ is connected: to: an elbow? ztfwhichs'ini'turmis connected: tov an'otherrelbow 2 by=means7of ashort lengthrofpipe 25:

Extending: downwardly from theelbolw ztl i's'r' a drain conduit- 2:6connectsito an' elbowfl; the latter in turn being connected to a pipe 28leading to a suitable drain.

In use of a water cooler such as herein disclosed, I have found that auser will open the valve I! and let a certain amount of water flow fromthe bubbler [9 before taking a drink. Further, during the time the usertakes a drink, quite frequently not all of the water flowing from thebubbler I9 is consumed. Also, there is a lag between the time the usercompletes his drink and the time the valve 5? is closed. All of theforegoing heretofore resulted in a Waste of cooled water, since waterflows to the drain and ordinarily performs no useful function.

My invention minimizes the waste before mentioned by utilizing thecooling effect of water flowing to the drain to pre-cool incoming water.In the embodiment herein shown, the incoming water is delivered to thewater cooler by means of a conduit 3! which is connected to a suitablesource of water supply.

The conduit 3%) is connected to the bottom of a coil 3! which encirclesthe drain conduit 26 and is held in good thermal transfer relationshiptherewith, as by means of tinning or the like. The top of the coil 3| isconnected to the inlet of the tank I 2 by means of a conduit 32.

Within the drain conduit 26 is a means for establishing a trough ofwater, such means also providing a lip over which the water spills whendrain water overflows the trough, the lip being so constructed andarranged that drain Water is caused to flow along the inner peripheralsurface of the drain conduit.

In the embodiment herein disclosed, a ringshaped element 35 is providednear the upper end of the drain conduit 26, such element being suitablysecured in place, such as by welding, brazing, or the like. The element35 is generally triangu lar in cross-section, the upper surfaceinclining downwardly toward the inner wall of the conduit 26, to form atrough 36. The opening 31 through the element 35 is defined by a conicalsurface which is of greater diameter at the bottom than at the top, thebottom diameter generally merging with the inner diameter of the conduit23.

As cooled waste water flows from the drain outlet 22, it passes throughelbow 23, pipe 25, elbow 24, and to drain conduit 26. This water willcollect in the trough 38, until it overflows the trough, and then itwill spill over the lip 38 and flow generally uniformly down oversurfaces 31 of element 35 and the inner peripheral surface of the drainconduit 26.

'Thus, the cool drain water is brought into intimate contact with thesurface defining the drain conduit 26 so as to effect the ultimate inthermal transfer between cooled drain water and incoming water, and insuch manner the incoming water is pre-cooled so that less energy isrequired to cool the water when it reaches the storage tank I2. In someinstances, it may be desirable to use more than one element 35, and itis intended to include in this invention the use of one or more of suchelements, the elements being disposed in series relationship withrespect to the conduit 26 when more than one is used.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatI have accomplished at least the principal, object of my invention, andit also will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodimentof the invention herein described may be variously changed and modified,without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that theinvention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specificallydescribed; hence it will be appreciated that the herein disclosedembodiment is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limitedthereto.

I claim:

A pre-cooler device for use in conjunction with a substantiallyvertically disposed drain pipe of a drinking fountain, said drain pipehaving a supply pipe for drinking water disposed in a coil therearound,comprising a ring member of generally angular cross-section closelyfitting within said drain pipe and having an upwardly and inwardlyinclined top surface forming with the adjacent inner wall surface ofsaid drain pipe an annular trough terminating in an inner elevatedperipheral discharge lip disposed in a substantially horizontal plane,the lower wall surface of said ring member extending downwardly andoutwardly from said lip and terminating closely adjacent the inner wallsurface of said drain pipe, a portion of the chilled waste waterentering said drain pipe being collected by said trough and dischargedover said lip in a uniform peripheral overflow, a portion of saidoverflow water thereafter adhering to said lower wall surface of saidring member and thence adhering to the inner peripheral inner surface ofsaid drain pipe and passing by gravity substantially directly downwardlytherethrough, whereby drinking water in said supply pipe isinitially-pre-cooled by the chilled waste water adhering to anddischarged through said drain pipe.

CLYDE P. FREER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date

